


Royalty

by divapilot



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-26
Updated: 2015-12-26
Packaged: 2018-05-09 09:54:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5535494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/divapilot/pseuds/divapilot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lor San Tekka has made a vow that he cannot break, even if it costs him his life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Royalty

SPOILERS FOR THE FORCE AWAKENS

Last warning!

 

 

Lor San Tekka occasionally wondered how his life had taken such odd turns, such strange pathways to such unexpected destinations. Those thoughts, however, he dismissed. It was not his to question the inscrutable ways of the Force.

Oh, he had seen amazing things in his many years. Such beauty – the soaring, snowcapped mountains of Alderaan, the turbulent waterfalls of Naboo, the floating rocks of Ryloth. The exhilarating experience of lightspeed, with time and space reduced to spears of light that pierced the fabric of the galaxy. All these memories stayed as sharp in his mind as ever, regardless of his advanced age.

He remembered a more civilized time when people could depend on security and stability, when Jedi were revered as protectors of justice throughout the galaxy. When he was just a boy, he and his family enjoyed a quiet existence, absent from stormtroopers or self-styled emperors or radicalized militarists. His family had been artists, teachers, scientists, back when such pursuits still held some value and respect. Now, only vulgar commerce mattered.

He sighed as he sat at his small table, the remains of his simple meal before him. He rose quietly, gathered the bowl and spoon and walked to the basin and began to wipe them clean. His task completed, he put the bowl and spoon back on the shelf, then returned to the table, pulling his chair in. A leather-bound book, its pages worn, sat in a corner of the table, and he slid it toward him in preparation for his nightly ritual of meditation and prayer. He laid his wrinkled hand on its cover reverentially, knowing that inside a hollowed out section of the book hid a precious key to a mystery.

He opened the book and began to read the ancient text. However, despite his intention to study, his memory floated backward again, to his youth on Alderaan. Lor San Tekka had come to understand these diversions as not mere daydreams or unfocused wanderings but gentle nudging from the Force itself, a suggestion that something else required his attention, and he allowed his memory to take him where it would. In his mind, he was a youth again, in the capital city of Aldera. There was pageantry of some type, and he remembered the Viceroy, Prince Organa, standing on a balcony. Beside him was his daughter, the Princess. They stood at attention as a parade progressed through the boulevard. He remembered shielding his eyes from the sun as he looked up at her. She was just a young girl then, so aloof and regal, so beautiful and strong. 

A few years after that he had slipped away to pursue his studies as a novitiate in the Church of the Force, a daring move since the Jedi had been condemned as criminals and outward support of their beliefs had been seen as nothing short of political treason. His mother had pleaded with him to stop following this unsanctioned faith, to stop needlessly endangering himself, to stay home and be safe. Within a year she, and the rest of his world, were murdered by the Empire. His faith became his world, his family, from that point on.

If he had known then how life would have turned out, living alone on a desert world like Jakku – but only those blessed with the gifts of the Force could glimpse where their lives would take them. 

And it has been a blessed life, he reminded himself. The unrelenting heat, the blistering sandstorms, and worst of all, the endless monotony- they were but small sacrifices to bear for the honor of the holy mission to which he had been entrusted. As Vicar, he would do everything he could for his faith, and help those to whom the Force had given its greatest gifts. 

Tomorrow, he promised himself, he would go to the outpost where the girl often came to trade her scavenged parts. He would observe her, make sure she was still safe and healthy. He had done this for years, keeping a promise he had made. He might even engage her in friendly conversation to try and soothe her aching loneliness. He would offer assistance if it looked like she needed it, although she rarely did. She was clever and resourceful, and she had a prodigious talent for survival. She fed herself, cared for herself, defended herself. 

Remarkable child, that one. But of course she was. How could she been otherwise, considering her lineage? 

He had been entrusted with a mission. It was his honor and his duty to guard her. Let those who come for the key take what they will and miss the true prize. 

He had promised her father to keep her safe and secret. He would not fail.


End file.
